When something works it's worth doing again, and New Age flutist-composer Dean Evenson's collaboration with guqin (Chinese zither) master Li Xiangting is proof of this. Tao of Healing is one of a series of collaborations between these two gentle old souls, and it's a profound, humbling beautiful journey into the place of stillness where healing can occur. The wafting sounds of Evenson's flute create the air and the wind, while Li's zither creates the grass and the trees and the stones in the inner garden of contemplation. Put this on after a stressful day at the office, or when recovering from a bad cold, or when you're meditating and getting in tune with your energy centers, realigning your out-of-control prana. This is music that's not going anywhere; it's right in the moment, circling and creating, and defining in a ceaseless ebb and flow of shadow play. Let yourself get lost in the flow and find what's missing.

"Clouds on Mountain" is a typical example, with Li using the low, wavering strings of the guqin to create a feeling of endless dropping gravity in your spine, balanced by the high spirited lift of Evenson's silver flute in the back of the neck. When Li switches to the high, ethereal, almost sitar-sounding high notes, the merging of instruments is complete, and it feels in your ears as if the revolution of the earth itself is working to wash away the angry residues of your day. "Deeper Forever" is busier, with rising tides of keyboards and flutes seeming to fly like swirls of happy morning doves around the sleeping depth of the slowly waking resonance of Li's guqin.

While there are derivations from the usual here, such as the solo flute track "Silver Bamboo" or guest musician Scott Huckabay on guitar, the bulk of this amazing album flows from two like minds--Evenson and Li--that work as one to create simple, deeply grounded meditative environments. This music is the musical equivalent of Monet's impressionistic landscape paintings, only mistier and more contemplative. We should always endeavor to keep to the tao (or path), and with the Tao of Healing always at hand, getting there can be as simple as closing your eyes and breathing in the beauty as it pours into your lungs, ears, and heart.